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1977 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1977 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1977, and it ended on November 30, 1977; these are dates that conventionally delimit the timeframe for tropical cyclone formation. It was rather inactive due to the presence of a moderate El Niño. While 16 total depressions and 14 tropical storms formed, both above average, only three hurricanes and no majors formed, the lowest numbers since 1972. The lone notable storm of the season was Hurricane Jodie, which produced torrential rainfall over much of Louisiana and Mississippi, prompting a state of emergency. It was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history for its time. The real season witnessed 16 depressions, 6 storms, 5 hurricanes, and 1 major hurricane. Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:200 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/1977 till:01/12/1977 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/07/1977 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_<39_mph_(0-62_km/h) id:TS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_39-73_mph_(63-117 km/h) id:C1 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_1_=_74-95_mph_(119-153_km/h) id:C2 value:rgb(1,0.91,0.46) legend:Category_2_=_96-110_mph_(154-177_km/h) id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_3_=_111-130_mph_(178-209-km/h) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.56,0.13) legend:Category_4_=_131-155_mph_(210-249_km/h) id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_≥_156_mph_(≥250_km/h) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:07/07/1977 till:11/07/1977 color:TS text:Anita from:24/07/1977 till:27/07/1977 color:TD text:Two from:03/08/1977 till:08/08/1977 color:TS text:Babe from:16/08/1977 till:21/08/1977 color:TS text:Clara from:25/08/1977 till:31/08/1977 color:TS text:Dorothy barset:break from:02/09/1977 till:08/09/1977 color:TS text:Evelyn from:04/09/1977 till:06/09/1977 color:TD text:Seven from:10/09/1977 till:17/09/1977 color:C1 text:Frieda from:25/09/1977 till:28/09/1977 color:TS text: barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:29/09/1977 till:30/09/1977 color:TS text:Grace from:03/10/1977 till:08/10/1977 color:TS text:Hannah barset:break from:12/10/1977 till:18/10/1977 color:C1 text:Ida from:16/10/1977 till:27/10/1977 color:C1 text:Jodie from:01/11/1977 till:05/11/1977 color:TS text:Kristina from:07/11/1977 till:12/11/1977 color:TS text:Lois from:15/11/1977 till:19/11/1977 color:TS text:Mary barset:break from:22/11/1977 till:28/11/1977 color:TS text:One bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/07/1977 till:01/08/1977 text:July from:01/08/1977 till:01/09/1977 text:August from:01/09/1977 till:01/10/1977 text:September from:01/10/1977 till:01/11/1977 text:October from:01/11/1977 till:01/12/1977 text:November TextData = pos:(570,30) text:"(From the" pos:(617,30) text:"Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale)" Storms Tropical Storm Anita Anita caused no impacts on land. Tropical Depression Two Tropical Depression Two also did not affect any landmasses. Tropical Storm Babe Babe made landfall over Lousiana as a very weak tropical storm. Moderate gusts snapped several tree branches, killing two and causing $240,000 (1977 USD) in losses. Tropical Storm Clara Clara made landfall over western Louisiana as a moderate tropical storm, almost in the same spot Babe had attacked just a couple of weeks earlier. Across the U.S. Gulf Coast, a storm surge of three to five feet and strong gusts caused moderate damage to trees and homes, resulting in a further four fatalities and inflicting $630,000 (1977 USD) in damages. Tropical Storm Dorothy Operationally deemed a hurricane, Dorothy did not cause any reported land impacts. Tropical Storm Evelyn Evelyn did not impact land whatsoever. Tropical Depression Seven Tropical Depression Seven continued the streak of non-impacting land storms. Hurricane Frieda Frieda did not affect land. Its formation marked one of the latest dates for a season's first hurricane. Tropical Storm Grace Grace made landfall over The Bahamas and Florida as a strong tropical storm before attacking Louisiana under its brief second spell. Strong gusts of hurricane intensity and a storm surge of five to seven feet destroyed many palm trees and mobile homes, as well as threatening the levees surrounding New Orleans. All in all, eight fatalities and $45 million (1977 USD) in losses was reported. Tropical Storm Hannah Hannah did not affect land. Hurricane Ida Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a weak hurricane. Widespread power outages affected thousands of customers and rainfall nearing 15 inches flooded regions of additional Greater New Orleans already badly saturated from earlier storms. Primarily due to roof and structural damage, the hurricane caused 12 fatalities and $108 million (1977 USD) in losses. Hurricane Jodie Jodie was a very erratically moving storm which made multiple landfalls over Louisiana, partially influenced by a Fujiwhara interaction with Ida's remnants. Rainfall nearing 40 inches, over 60 tornadoes, and gusts of major hurricane intensity snapped dozens of trees, flooded marshes and the Mississippi River Delta, and destroyed thousands of structures across New Orleans. A storm surge of nearly 15 feet crashed through the levees protecting New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain; in some places, the surge exceeded levels set by Betsy and Katrina a couple of decades later. Roughly 60% of the city's infrastructure was destroyed, 50,000 people were left homeless, and hundreds of businesses went out of operation. The damage was so severe, President Jimmy Carter declared southern Louisiana a disaster zone. Overall, damages from Jodie reached $4.7 billion (1977 USD) and 643 fatalities were reported. This made the hurricane the costliest in American history until Hugo twelve years later. Tropical Storm Kristina Kristina made landfall over Louisiana in roughly the same spot Jodie had been looping around only a week earlier. Rainfall of three to five inches and gusts of hurricane intensity destroyed 15% of the refugee camps set up in New Orleans and threatened to overtop the Lake Pontchartrain levees for a second time. Eleven fatalities and $65 million (1977 USD) in losses were reported. Tropical Storm Lois Lois did not affect land. Tropical Storm Mary Mary did not affect land. Subtropical Storm One Subtropical Storm One did not affect land. Storm names The following names were used to name tropical cyclones in 1977. Subtropical cyclones were not named. Storms were named Anita, Babe, Clara, Evelyn, Grace, Ida, Jodie, Kristina, and Mary for the first time in 1977. Retirement Due to the damage it inflicted to Louisiana, the name Jodie was later retired. Because this was the only usage of this naming list, no particular replacement was chosen. Category:Hypothetical Disasters Category:Hypothetical Hurricanes Category:Hurricanes Category:Atlantic hurricane seasons Category:Past Events Category:Past disasters Category:Past Atlantic hurricane seasons Category:Past Hurricanes Category:Events in the 1970s Category:What Could Have Been